Sales for Majid Al Futtaim’s (MAF) Al Zahia community in Sharjah have doubled in the last year as the project embarks on its third phase, the Al Lilac neighbourhood, a senior official has said.

Speaking to Construction Week at the Cityscape Global event in Dubai on Monday, Hawazen Esber, chief executive officer of Majid Al Futtaim – Communities said that the overall construction of the Al Zahia community is now roughly 30% complete.

All five phases of the community are on track to be completed by 2022 while construction of the $708m (AED2.6bn) City Centre Al Zahia is on track for opening in late 2020.

MAF is also adding office space as a new asset class to some of its newest communities, including the Al Mouj Muscat, after it proved highly successful within the developer’s Waterfront City project, Lebanon’s first mixed-use development.

Al Lilac will comprise 61 four and five-bedroom villas in total with construction on the first part of the neighbourhood to begin by the end of the year.

The neighbourhood includes a themed, 6,000-square-metre sensory park with interactive sculptures and landscaped areas, plus pathways for jogging, walking and cycling.

One third of the overall Al Zahia project is either completed or actively under construction and is moving forward with at least one to two neighbourhoods per year.

Majid Al Futtaim will also announce a new master plan in the first half of next year, according to Hawazen Esber, chief executive officer of Majid Al Futtaim – Communities.

The new master-planned community will be located in Dubai and will include integrated residential, commercial, retail, leisure and entertainment offerings.

Al Zahia is a Majid Al Futtaim and Sharjah government joint venture project under Sharjah Holding.